Blood for the Baron!

Past the 11th hour here, thought I'd post a pic of my Granddad. I think it would be cool if any one else has pics to post. My Grandfather travelled to England (via Canada) to defend her shores. Lest we forget.

i dont have any pics of my great grandfather but he was irish born and raised and served in the british army in ww1,the irish free state army in the 1920s and 1930s and when ww2 kicked off he re-enlisted in the british army and he passed away peacefully back in 1979.its nice [and important] to remember those that have served and fought for the freedoms we know enjoy and take for granted,,you will NEVER be forgotten

Great pic Chopper! We just got back from a nice little church service. Always good to remember and give thanks.

Fantastic picture Chopper.

The only picture I have just shows my Grandad wearing his service gas mask bag over civilian clothes (probably c.1939). As an electrician with the Southern Energy Board in Gravesend (just down the Thames from London), he was in a protected occupation and served as a specialist Air Raid Warden dealing with electrical hazards during and after bombing raids, of which there were many due to Gravesend's location and docks. I regret I never spoke to him about his part - we found his Warden's helmet and various associated paperwork in his loft after he'd died, sparking my real interest in the period.

I always pause to remember.

My Grandad shared a similer story to RB's.
He too was in a reserved occupation, farm worker, but was also member of the Auxiliary Fire Service. Thankfully, living in the countryside, he didn't have to face the dangers that the big city brigades did but my father, who was a very young boy @ the time, recalls the time my grandad came home after attending a downed German aircraft & not wishing to talk about what he'd witnessed...the sight of the dead aircrew haunted him for the rest of his life.

Remembrance day coverage, rightfully so, focuses on our servicemen & women but, I feel, it's important that we should remember everyone who's life has been affected or suffered in armed conflicts aswell.

Remembrance Day always brings back memories of my two Grandfathers. My maternal grandfather was a wireless and then radar operator for Sunderlands amongst other aircraft and thats probably where I got my interest in aircraft from to be honest. I know he was in the Atlantic for a while before going to Italy, we have a coin that he pushed into lava from Mt Etna when it erupted.

My paternal grandfather was a veteran of both World Wars being in infantry and then artillery. He didn't talk that much but we have managed to learn that he managed to chalk up being at such events such as the western front, Dunkirk, D-Day, Arnhem and the Rhine Crossing. Some of his stories really were the stuff of war films.

Its always a day twinged with sadness as well as remembrance.

Neat stories, chaps. My Granddad's were both too young (under 21). Jack (above) pestered his mum to enlist. Eventually they let him go. My Mum's dad was in a reserved occupation. There were quite a few in NZ because tons and tons of wool and dairy products were being sent to England etc. That's a huge story in itself.

Anyway, my Poppa (Des) finally managed to get his enlistment papers but Horihito surrendered before he actually went to the RNZN. He always said that Horihito found out he was coming and sh*t himself, threw in the towel.

Granddad Jack went to Canada then Scotland and the Isle of Man. My Nana was a WAAF from Essex. She manned barrage balloons and then went on to be a mechanic. After the BOB she was transferred to Scotland and the rest, as they say, is history. It always amazes me, without the war I wouldn't be here.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about my relatives from the Great War, and it was only last summer when I learned the truth about my paternal grandfather. I was in Malta for a wedding and popped in to the WW2 museum in Valletta. Amongst all the artifacts I saw a ships bell, torn to pieces, and when I saw the name, I stopped dead in my tracks - HMS Illustrious, Grandad Marshall's ship.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Illustrious_%28R87%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_M ... _War_II%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta_Convoys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Excess



Grandad was a naval Spitfire pilot, he never spoke of his experiences, he never spoke much at all. I wish I'd known the truth of his service record while he was still alive.



My mother's father was a foot soldier present as the liberation of Belsen, he bore those mental scars for the rest of his life. He never managed to fit back in to civilian life and emigrated to Australia soon after coming home, leaving a wife and three small children behind.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen-Bel ... ation_camp



Both of them were ordinary blokes who never wanted to join the army. I can't imagine what they went through, my thanks and respects seem insignificant by comparison, but there is not a day that goes by where I don't pause to honour those who lost their lives so that I may live mine in freedom - which I do with a vehement pride.

Well said, Jim.

My dad's dad William Openshaw is the only grandparent I know about regarding WWII. He was in the Cameronian Rifles I know he was on the beach at Normandy and from there went on to digging trenches in Italy as one of the so-called D-Day Dodgers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Day_Dodgers Here is his regiment's website. http://www.cameronians.org/introduction/index.html